appetizers

Stuffed Artichoke Bites

If you are already on the lookout for great little appetizers for the holidays, you will want to add this one to your list. Simple and quick, you will fall in love with them.

2 cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained

2/3 cup Progresso Italian Seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup olive oil, divided use

1 clove fresh garlic, finely chopped

1 cup Parmesan Cheese

2 eggs, well beaten

In a skillet, heat about 2 tables of the olive oil and saute the garlic for 1 to 2 minutes. Then add the cheese, bread crumbs and rest of oil. Stir until well combined. Stir in the eggs. Shape around the artichoke hearts and placed on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350 oven for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

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S’More Cookies*

Chocolate Castles's avatarChocolate Castles

2014-09-08 15.43.20

Mr. Smarty Pants made his point that he was tired of running back and forth to get baking items for me when he brought this home this weekend. I put it beside the 25 lb sack of sugar that he made me buy and told him that I had had enough of his smart alec suggestions, that unless I got the desire to make 100 dz hot tamales, he can just march right back to the store and buy my butter flavored Crisco, which I’m sure is much more healthy than the bucket of lard.  So while I wait for him to get back with my Crisco to make these cookies, I don’t want him to know that I am actually using the lard to make pie crusts. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.  It truly makes great pie crusts but when people comment and tell you that that…

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Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts

German Chocolate Cheesecake

This is a one-pan dessert that takes one of the best known desserts…cheesecakes, and makes in a simple, quick & great tasting dessert that you can add to any dessert table for the holidays!

Great made the night before for best flavor!

1 box (18 1/2 oz) Duncan Hines German Chocolate cake mix

2/3 cup shredded coconut

2/3 cup butter, softened

3 eggs, divided use

2 packages ( 8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

2 teas vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

Sour Cream Frosting

2 cups sour cream

1 tables vanilla

3/4 cup granulated sugar

Mix all 3 ingredients together before spreading over the cheesecake

Cheesecake:

Blend the cake mix, coconut, butter and 1 egg. Spread into bottom of an ungreased 9×13 baking pan. (I did lightly spray mine with Pam, just in case).

Beat softened cream cheese with remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and sugar until creamy and smooth. Spread over the cake mixture in pan and bake at 350 for about 30-35 min, or until middle is almost done, with a slight jiggle. Let cool for about 30 minutes and spread Sour Cream frosting over top of cake. Allow cake to cool further and place in refrigerator at least 8 hours before serving.

Daily Thoughts

Redwoods & Community

October 1st…such a glorious morning. What a perfect day to go out and walk, with the temperature at 65, there was truly no reason that I should not be out walking and enjoying this beautiful Fall morning. The tennis shoes were laced and the earphones were plugged in and out I went.  Having downloaded some sermons, I began to listen to Rick Warren. He was talking about how our life can be more meaningful if we live with a sense of serving where God has placed us. He told about the giant redwood trees in Northern California. They are truly a sight to behold, as they stretch into the heavens, sometimes 400 to 500 feet tall.  He explained that they have hardly any root system and to survive they are always grown in clusters, so their roots intertwine, thus giving each support from the others. They could never survive alone, because of their root system, but together, they grow strong and can stand the storms and wind that would otherwise break them.

Just like in our lives, we are not meant to live alone or feel that we don’t need anyone. We are made to be a part of others,  to look out for each other, “thinking as other’s more important than ourselves.”

He explained that his church had just finished 40 days of challenge of reaching out and serving the community. It convicted my heart that just because we have more time on our hands than ever before, we didn’t just need to be living for ourselves. Our kids are grown, I’m retired and we have no excuse for not seeking out ways to share the gifts and abilities that God has blessed us. So I feel convicted to challenge myself for the next 40 days to truly ask the Lord each morning, “please put someone in my path today that needs either a meal, a phone call, maybe a handwritten note, a visit to a sick friend.”

October 1st…such a glorious morning. A day to begin to reach out to others!

P.S. Before I finished this posting, my phone beeped with a text from a friend who is needing meals brought to their home, due to an accident. Day 1 Challenge…taking a meal!

Anyone care to accept this 40 day challenge to see how the Lord might be wanting to use you?

Desserts · Fruit

Country Apple Dessert

Fall just says to me, “bake something with apples”. Going through a basket with recipes that had been torn out when we moved, I came across this quick easy recipe!

1 box (18 1/2 oz) yellow cake mix, with pudding

1/3 cup butter, softened

2 eggs, slightly beaten, divided use

1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling (be sure it is the apple pie filling and not just sliced apples!

1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, copped

1 teas cinnamon (I think I will use about 2 teas)

1 cup sour cream

1 teas vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bow, combine cake mix, butter and 1 egg by hand or by using the low speed on a hand help mixer.

Place in a ungreased 9×13″ baking dish and using hand, press the mixture to form a bottom crust. Spread apple pie filling evenly over mixture.

Combine brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon and sprinkle over the apples. In a small bowl, blend the sour cream, egg and vanilla.

Spread over the sugar mixture.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until topping is golden. Serve warm or room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers.

Serves: 12

Cakes · Desserts · Fruit

Strawberry Pound Cake

Isn’t it such a blessing that we never have to wait for summer for strawberries? Aren’t freezers just the best invention ever?

Because this recipe calls for frozen strawberries, you can make this gorgeous and delicious cake in the dead of winter, when you have reached your pumpkin and gingerbread limit.

2 packages (10 oz eac) frozen sweetened sliced strawberries, thawed

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teas baking soda

1/2 teas baking powder

1/2 teas salt

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

1/4 teas strawberry extract (if you do not have this, you can use vanilla)

Strawberry Sauce

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries (you can use frozen if unable to find fresh)

1/2 teas vanilla

1/4 teas strawberry extract (if you do not have this, just add another 1/4 teas vanilla)

1/2 cup butter

Drain strawberries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Chop the berries; set juice and berries aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Combine the dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk and mix well. Stir in pecans, chopped berries and extract.

Pour into a greased and floured 10″ fluted tube pan. Bake at 325 for 1 1/4 hours or until cake tests done. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pan to a wire rack. (Mine only took a little over the hour)

Sauce:

In a small saucepan, combine the butter and reserved strawberry juice. Add the fresh sliced or frozen berries. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in extracts and powdered sugar and mix until no lumps remain from the sugar. Pour glaze over warm cake. 2015-09-23 14.31.48

*Taken from FaceBook

Daily Thoughts

Chocolate Castles on Home Screen

On Sunday I realized that some friends of mine didn’t know that they could add ChocolateCastles to their home screens. That way, all you have to do is click on the Icon and the blog appears. So for those of us who are Golden Girls, who aren’t real computer savy, it is very easy. This works on Iphones. (it works on Androids also, but to tell you the truth, I don’t remember how the cute little high school  looking girl at AT&T did it)

There are only 2 steps to having it on your home screen.

  1. Type in Chocolate Castles in your search bar. When you have choices of Chocolate Castles to choose from, open the one which shows it is a blog. The Headline will say, “ChocolateCastles/Recipes, Life & Laughs & Hospitality Hints chocolatecastles.com…..click on that.
  2. Once you have opened it, look at the bottom of your phone and you should see a box with an arrow pointing up. Click on that and it gives you several choices, one of those being “add to home screen”. Click on that and it will download to your home screen.
  3. Any time you need to go to the blog, just touch the Chocolate castles icon and it will take you then directly to Chocolate Castles. Also there is a search bar on the right side of the blog page where you can type in the name of a recipe to find it in the blog, no matter when it was posted.

Hope this helps.  Thanks to all of you who are following the blog. It is such an encouragement to continue writing and posting!

Chocolate · Desserts

Popping Pretzels

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I know what you are thinking, “and she wonders why she keeps putting on the pounds”. But, trust me, these are an addiction that you will be grateful for. They take 5 minutes to make and you can make them for any holiday by just changing out the color of candy melts and M&M’s.

So far, I have not been able to find any Fall colored M&M’s yet, so just picked out the brown, yellow and orange ones from the bag I had. I posted these a couple of years ago and for some reason, did not make them last year. Probably because I knew if I did, I would be admitted to the 1800chocolatehoarders. But folks, this has been a tough year. Learning how to live in a house with a newly retired husband, well…let’s just say that I have earned every bite of chocolate I can get my hands on. It is so weird that I don’t even really like pretzels, but when you put chocolate on them, they become a whole new food group to me.

It has been so easy to convince myself that at least I’m not popping pills. Maybe after this, diet pills will be in my future, but will wait until the whole bag of pretzels and M&M’s are gone.

1 bag of waffle pretzels

1 bag of orange candy melts (Found mine at Michaels for $1.99)

M&M’s (any flavor you like, but the plain is what I used today)

Preheat oven to 225. On a baking sheet, place the waffle pretzels in a single layer. Place a candy melt in the center of each pretzel. Place in preheated oven for about 2 minutes. I take mine out just before the little tip of the candy melts goes flat. Have your M&M’s ready to place one in the center of each candy melt.

So perfect for those evenings of watching The Voice or Castle or sharing (yeah, right, like I’m going to actually give some away…I don’t think so) with a neighbor! Seriously, these are so great to take to parties or to your son and daughter-in-laws house when you babysit, because they never have any desserts in the house…oops did I say that out loud?

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Heavenly Smore Bites

These are addicting!!!but chocolate always is!

Chocolate Castles's avatarChocolate Castles

Heavenly Smore Bites

A great dessert that you can make in 10 minutes! You will never make smores outside again! The little bit of powdered sugar in the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter make these little gems something special.
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup powdered sugar
6 tables melted butter
12 regular sized marshmallows
1 large (7 oz) Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar
Mix crumbs, powdered sugar and melted butter together in small bowl with fork until well blended. Place a tablespoon of mixture in each of 24 mini muffin tins. Place in preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 5 min. Remove from oven and place 1/2 of small square of Hershey bar in each cup while still hot. Cut a marshmallow in half and place over chocolate. When you have finished with all 24 cups, put back in oven and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until marshmallow…

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Security Guards & Smouthered Chicken

To think about as we go into baseball playoff season

Chocolate Castles's avatarChocolate Castles

Last evening we went to watch the Ranger vs Angels play. We were excited to be going out to an evening of eating junk food without guilt. Why is it, when you are enjoying sports events or carnivals, car shows or festivals, we eat as though none of the calories will turn to fat? We pigged out on two tubs of popcorn, peanuts and foot long hot dogs. But we did have the sense to wash it all down with a diet Pepsi, after all, we do have to watch our cholesterol. We didn’t concern ourselves one iota with the fact that we had consumed more calories in one night that we had all week. But it was ok, we were watching baseball.

It was at this point in the evening, when we realized that we had eaten our way through the first 4 innings. We then began to notice two…

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